Single currency is central issue

The Tories line up against the euro

Europe is finding itself at the heart of this election campaign.

In Paris this morning the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin set out his ideas for the future of the European Union, which included harmonised corporate taxes and an emphasis on human rights but rejected an overtly federal Europe.

Back in London, the Tories called for clarity on a future referendum. The party's foreign affairs spokesman Francis Maude laid out six key conditions that would have to apply for the referendum to be deemed even-handed.

These ranged from approval from the Electoral Commission that the question was simple and fair to reform of what the party called "rigged campaign spending limits".

Only if all these criteria WERE met, said Mr Maude, would the referendum be acceptable.

We do have to save the pound and the Tories are the only party in a position to do that

Dr Alan Sked

Business backs Euro

And this morning, another group of senior business-people chimed in with a further letter to the papers.

This time, their aim was not overtly party-political: they declared instead - 'whichever party takes office, we hope they will adopt a more positive commitment to the Euro than hitherto.'

UKIP founder backs Tories

If Labour - implicitly - can be pleased with the support of some senior business figures, the Tories have got a new recruit of their own.

Dr Alan Sked helped set up the United Kingdom Independence Party and stood against Tories in previous elections because they were too weak - in his eyes - on the Euro.

Welcomes ex-UKIP founder

Now he's left UKIP, and has agreed to help William Hague's Tories in any way he can. He told The World at One that William Hague's party was the only one with a realistic chance of saving the pound and said he would consider joining the Conservative party, depending on what the party's position was after the election.

The Conservatives' Foreign Affairs spokesman, Francis Maude, told the World at One he welcomed the support of Dr Sked. He refused to admit that Conservative focus on the threat of a referendum on the euro if Labour were to win was an admission of defeat.

He also repeated claims that a referendum on the euro would not be fair and called for Labour to clarify what sort of question it would ask in a referendum.